Pres. Reagan Said They Could Never Work Again

They were told they would never work in their chosen field again, but hundreds of air traffic controllers, fired by President Ronald Reagan 25 years ago, are quietly being rehired.

In 1981, controllers represented by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), walked out on strike to protest poor working conditions. The president threatened to fire them, since he considered the strike illegal, and said they would stay fired.  PATCO gambled that with so many controllers not working the nation's airspace, they could force the president to make a deal.

They lost that gamble, and Reagan made good on his threat to make the firings permanent.

PATCO, representing the fired controllers, never stopped working for them and now it may be finally reaping the benefits. Newer controllers are generally now represented by NATCA (National Air Traffic Contollers Association) and PATCO controllers have the option of joining the newer union.

Despite the mandatory retirement age of 56 for current controllers, the former PATCO members are not subject to that rule because of previous agreements and most are now well over 60.

About 500 have received offers of employment from the FAA, but if they want to start telling airplanes where to go, they'll have to undergo extensive retraining.

The good news is, considering the FAA's reputation for not updating its equipment, the returning air traffic controllers will probably  be very familiar with the consoles they left behind a quarter century ago.

MFI: www.patco81.com